Monday, 31 March 2008

It's been raining non stop here since this morning. Finally it was slightly cold after a very long hot summer. I might have to start digging out the long sleeve tops for the little misses. There'll be lots of last year's winter clothes yg dah tak muat rasanya sebab they have definitely grown. Itu yg leceh kadang2 duduk negara 4 musim ni, sebab every season kena bertukar ganti baju and then most of the times, the little misses can only wear them for 1 season.

Bila sejuk2 ni, it's nice to eat warm comforty food but the problem is, my comfort food is very different with the other half's comfort food, hehehe...I grew up where the sun always shines and he grew up not that far from the Antarctics so bezalah kan! But since I'm going to be cooking loads of my comfort food while he's away in New York in a few weeks time, so I cooked his comfort food tonite for dinner.

Tonite's dinner has a very strange name of 'toad in the hole'. This is a traditional British dish of sausages cooked/baked in Yorshire pudding batter. Nama dish ni lebih kurang macam nama2 kuih2 yang pelik2 kat M'sia tu lah. Konon nya dipanggil toad in the hole sebab nampak mcm sausages tu mcm rupa toads lah! But my 'toad in the hole' batter didn't turn out quite right. Sepatutnya dia mengembang naik cantik aje, puffs up probably like souffle but it still tasted really good. It's said that klu batter tu tak jadi, I can't use that'toad in the hole' name, I have to use 'Frog in the bog' instead, hehehe....

p/s I know the photo memang lah tak nampak menarik langsung but that's the best out of the lot, hehehe!

Sunday, 30 March 2008

Finally, daylight saving has ended here in WA. So, sekarang ni Perth time is the same as M'sian time instead of an hour early. But it also means sunrise comes early which means kena bangun lagi awal lah for subuh, hehehe...

Hari ni we went for Miss soon-to-be-9 first soccer match. From now on, our Sundays will be taken up with soccer matches sbb we have to go to different ovals for the games. Luckily it's a home game today so tak lah kena drive jauh2 sgt. Poor her though, baru aje 5 minutes into the game, dia dah kena sit on the bench sekejap sbb injury. Masing2 nak kejar bola kan so dia bertembung dgn another player and got hit quite hard on her ear. Berjurai jugaklah air mata sekejap, hehehe. Nasib baiklah mummy ada on the side nak usap2 telinga dia and nak bagi dia extra hugs. But unfortunately, their team lost their first game, 1-4...Luckily it's still a friendly match for the under 9s. They will still get a trophy at the end of the season, hehehe...

Miss 4 1/2 pulaknya was quite happy riding on her bike at the bike area kat sebelah the soccer ground and was quite upset that she had to stop riding to go and cheer her sister. Oh well, I couldn't just leave her there riding alone, could I!

Saturday, 29 March 2008

I'm typing this in the dark sbb it's Earth Hour now. We wanted to switch off everything for the hour but what fun thing can you do in the dark? ;-) ;-). So we compromised in just switching off everything except the computers and the little misses nite lite. I think I'm starting to develop a headache from straining my eyes trying to write this blog in darkness, hehehe....

Nothing much happened today. Pagi tadi pergi register the little misses for their holiday swimming programs. They can't wait to start swimming again after so many years tertinggal. At least they have something to do during the holidays. Then buang masa pergi window shopping, hehehe. Came home and started making doughnuts and bun kacang merah for afternoon tea. Cuma buat doughnut dough aje actually, tapi sajelah letak inti and bakar half and goreng half. Inti tu leftover from buat red bean stollen from a long time ago which I froze. Konon nak iced the doughnuts but tercair pulak icing nya and termerah too but the little misses didn't mind so tak kisah lah kan, hehehe.

And bila dah makan afternoon tea at 4 o'clock, semua still kekenyanganlah at dinner time which was really good since I didn't start cooking until after 6. But at 7, miss 4 1/2 started complaining that she's really really hungry. Nasib baik dah siap masak masa tu, hehehe...Dinner malam ni sempoi abis. We had grilled chicken wings and nasi sayur campur.

Friday, 28 March 2008

Malam ni the other half ada function in the city so he didn't join us for dinner. Selalunya bila the other half tak dinner at home, I normally cook dishes that I like but yang dia tak suka sangat like apa2 jenis mee except laksa/ mee kari. I looovvve noodles especially Malaysian style but the other half tak berapa gemar sangat mee ni so tu yang jarang jugak masak kalau banding dengan nasi. Bulan depan he'll be going to New York for a week so bolehlah I experiment with segala jenis noodles in the kitchen while he's away, hehehehe...but sian kat the little misses kalau I masak mee bandung pedas, mee jawa, asam laksa, mee siam....

Ingat tadi nak masak bubur nasi with all the condiments but tak tau whether the little misses would eat it so changed it to Beef Stroganoff. Last nite we stayed in Perth for our dinner, tonite we 'flew' out to St. Petersburg, Russia, where beef stroganoff originated from. The name stroganoff came from a Count whose cook invented the recipe for him. It's main ingredients are beef strips (but I used mince), mushroom and sour cream and it's normally eaten with wide egg noodles. But we had ours with pasta.

I can't remember when we had it last. The little misses finished theirs off without any complain which made me happy. The little misses are strange in that they very rarely ask for seconds even if they love whatever dinner they are eating. Tak tau lah kenapa. But kalau desserts, they'll ask for seconds everytime, tak ke tension tu!

Methods:-Preheat frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Mix plain flour and salt and pepper on a plate. Dip the beef shins into the flour mixture, then coat the whole meat with flour, shake off excess tepung. Pan fry the beef shins 2 at a time until brown, then set aside.-In the same frying pan (no need to basuh dulu), tambah another 2 tbsp of olive oil and then add onions, garlic, diced carrot and diced celery and fry until onions wilted.-Transfer the half cooked meat and the onion mixture into a slow cooker. Then add the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker-Set the slow cooker on high and cook for 5 hrs. Then rasa the osso bucco after that and kalau daging masih melekat to the bone, continue cooking on low for another hour.-Boleh dihidang dgn mashed potatoes or risotto.

If anyone wants recipe for osso bucco yg bake in the oven, you can find it here at Taste

Found a nice recipe for cupcakes using just cream, eggs, sugar and flour so apa lagi, put my chef hat on and started baking the cupcakes. Pastu ada lagi lebih thick cream, I whipped it up and made Butterfly Cupcakes out of the cupcakes I made earlier. The little misses were so impressed to see their mum decorating cupcakes on a weekday.....then sempat lagi letak kat atas tiered cake plates, hehehehehe.....

I've already decided to make fish and chips for dinner tonite but since I was so obviously in a rajin mode (well, for me anyway), I made home made chips and also home made tartare sauce. I'm also thinking of baking a banana cake tonite, hehehehe...Sekali sekala rajin kan....

Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Tonite is soccer practice nite but they've delayed it to a 5.30 start so the other half has plenty of time to come home and take miss soon to be 9 to soccer. Kiranya so I could have time to cook dinner at the usual time instead of rushing around. Tapi setiap kali balik dr practice miss soon-to-be-9 was always too tired to eat heavy dinner. Kesian jugak dia, dah lah penat pastu nak kena makan dinner, pastu nak terus masuk tidur... So, hari ni I made mee goreng before picking the little misses up from school. I wanted to change their eating plan on practice night. If I give them heavy afternoon tea cum dinner awal so bila dia balik from practice, she can have a light supper so tak lah muka letih aje masa dinner.

Tonite miss 4 1/2 and I tagged along to soccer practice. Saje je nak bagi moral support for miss soon-to-be-9 and nak bagi miss 4 1/2 main kat playground nearby. And I can have a chat with the other half while lepaking on the oval. Kiranya mcm berdating masa dulu2 lah, hehehe...

Tuesday, 25 March 2008

I still have a slight cold but it's getting better. Thanks to everyone who wished me a speedy recovery. However, having the kids at home today didn't really help with my sore throat. I guess with 2 girls in the house, the good thing is diaorang tak mengganas like some boys but it's the constant talking macam murai2 tengah buat AGM tu yg I really can't stand bila tengah sakit ni. Dah lah setiap kali nak bercakap I will be coughing because of the 'frog in my throat'.

Pastu the endless questions that needs answering yg keluar dari mulut Miss 4 1/2 since she woke up this morning. Kalau tak jawab, she'll ask the same question again and again macam record player buruk but kalau jawab, it'll lead to another question. Macam mana lah nak baik my sore throat ni! Berapa kali dah suruh dia diam hari ni, kejap aje diamnya around 2 mins max, pastu mula bercakap balik. In our house, no one's allowed to say 'shut up' because it's not polite...tapi sametimes the other half and I really feel like shouting the words to them bila they just talk non stop, hehehe....Kids! We love them to bits but they can still drive us nuts!

Sunday, 23 March 2008

Woke up with a sore throat this morning. Must have caught the bug from the other half. At least it's a Sunday so I could have plenty of rest if I want to. Luckily the little misses woke up late so I had a longer quiet time this morning to feel miserable. Since they woke up late, I decided to make brunch for everyone to save some energy. We had some smoked salmon sitting in the fridge that needs to be used up. When we went to the shops on Thursday, we walked past this crepe eatery which made really good looking crepes. The other half wanted me to try making some crepes since it didn't look that difficult at the shop, hehehe....

So, tried my hands at making them for brunch and they turned out quite good for a first timer. Except that I think I should have maybe blitzed the batter in the blender to have a really smooth batter. The little misses asked what they are so I told them they are crepes. They went, what's that?, so I told them it's lempeng, they went...ohhh! Kalau dah jawa tu, rupa mcm mat saleh pun tetap lah jawa, hehehehe.....

The little misses had their 'lempeng' with susu pekat and maple syrup while we had ours with smoked salmon, grated cheese, sliced tomatoes and diced gherkins! I also made jemput2 pisang for the brunch spread and the hot cross buns from yesterday. I definitely do not have to make anything for lunch!

Saturday, 22 March 2008

I'm definitely not the most patient mum in the world sbb baru aje 2 hari the little misses cuti but dah berapa kali suara i naik hari ni.Luckily the other half took them to the park for a few hours, dapatlah rasa peace and quiet sekejap. They are not bad kids but probably I expect too much from them....Susah jadi parents ni, hehehe...

I baked some hot cross buns today sbb kat sini klu Easter, there'll be hot cross buns everywhere. But instead of dried fruits, I put choc chips in it and also forgot to put the spices in the mix. Oh well, they stil taste good especially with all the choc chips in them ;-). And Little miss 4 1/2 was my helper in putting the tiny choc eggs on top of each bun. Tak sabar2 dia nak makan the tiny speckled choc eggs because they looked so cute!

We had the Osso Bucco with gremolata and risotto milanese. Malam ni memang kira full italian lah, hehehe... Gremolata is basically finely grated lemon rind with finely diced garlic and parsley and they normally sprinkle it on the osso bucco. Since the garlic is raw, so rasa dia pedas sikit lah, not pedas chili but pedas garlic mentah which is really nice with the Osso Bucco.

Risotto milanese ni pulaknya nasi italian style. lebih kurang macam nasi lembik but leceh buat ni sbb u have to stand kat dapur, kacau the rice sentiasa and tambah stock to the rice 1 senduk at a time. Klu tak buat mcm ni, nanti nasi tu jadi gluggy cam nasi lembik which is not the right texture. But the taste is really good. I added chicken stock, saffron, parmesan cheese and peas to the rice. The little misses ate without complaining so I guess it was delicious ;-).

Thursday, 20 March 2008

Malam ni tak nak cerita pasal dinner tapi nak cerita pasal my new 'toy'. Tadi we all pegi window shopping lepas ambik the kids from school and masuk lah ke Target sbb dia tengah 15% off everything. Since it's going to be a long easter holiday wknd starting from tomorrow we wanted to just browse around looking at all the chocolate easter eggs and bunnies. The little misses will be having a 5 day easter holiday until Tuesday, aggggghhhhhhhh, help me!.....

Anyway, I found a kitchen gadget at the clearance aisle that's called 'mistral mini delight snack maker'. On the box it says comes with recipe book but searched for it high and low, there wasnt anything in the box, not even the manual! But since it was only $9, I still bought it thinking that I can always search for the recipes on the net. The other half could only shook his head when I showed him what I bought, hehehe...But even he was quite taken with the strange looking snack maker. Rasanya lah kan, boleh buat kaya balls or kuih cara in those holes. I might let the little misses have another baking day during these 5 day holidays and maybe they can try the snack maker. Who knows, they might like 'playing' with it, hehehe....

Wednesday, 19 March 2008

Tonite we had western again sbb memang tak nak masak nasi seminggu ni. Since miss soon to be 9 had soccer practice this afternoon, we had to postpone dinner to 7 o'clock. It was quite late for them to be having dinner and miss soon-to-be-9 was really tired to eat but I still haven't found a way to avoid a late dinner. What I might do next week is give them a big meal or afternoon tea at 4 o'clock so when she came home from soccer, she could just have a very light supper instead of dinner. Sian dia, penat betul masa dinner tadi, nak masukkan food dlm mulut pun lambat aje...

Tonite's menu was meatloaf, with peas in mashed potatoes and sauteed mushroom and carrots in garlic. The other half has been asking for meatloaf for a few weeks now, hehehe, but I was never in the mood to cook it until tonite. Since I'm the cook, I have to be in the mood to cook whatever dishes I'm cooking or else rasa malas aje nak masak. Tu yg dah berminggu mintak baru malam ni dapat, hahaha...

I'm back in the kitchen tonite after a really lazy nite last nite. Tonite, we flew to Austria / Germany for the origin of our dinner. We had chicken schnitzel with chips, salad and bread rolls. Schnitzel is a thin slice of meat coated in breadcrumbs and fried. The original name is wiener schnitzel which is a thin slice of veal coated in breadcrumbs and then fried. But I made a different version of schnitzel which is famous in Australia as a pub food called parmigiana.

Basically, first I used breast fillet which I pounded using meat mallet until thin. Then dipped them in seasoned plain flour, then in egg and then in breadcrumb.Sbb nak kurangkan lemak, I panfried the schnitzel instead of deep fried. Pastu, put the schnitzelon a plate, pour a bit of pasta sauce on it, then top it with grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese, then grill it until the cheese melts. You can serve it with fries and salad or just it eat like that.

For the little misses I made them schnitzel burger to have with chips. They like the burger more than the parmigiana.

So, since tonite takde gambar dinner, I want to show you some more photos of my weird looking chilli plant. I found some 'old' photos of the chilli plant and kira amazed jugaklah tengok pertumbuhan nya in a few months only. Tapi sedih lah jugak sbb Summer dah habis and it's Autumn now, tak lama lagi pokok chili tu wont be as productive as it is now and won't be as pretty either. Hopefully takdelah tanaman2 yg mati this winter.

The chocolate cake with ganache but the ganache I buat thick sikit so tu yg tak meleleh ke tepi.

Baklava which is a rich sweet dessert of ground mixed nuts (I used almond, walnuts and cashew nuts) encased in filo pastry layers with sugar syrup poured onto it while hot. I think this dessert is native to Turkey.

Dah lama betul tak buat and makan choc cake ni since the other half went on a diet. Buat baklava tu sbb the little misses like them a lot. The kids devoured the chocolate cake and baklava like they've never had them before, hehehe...The adults enjoyed the sweet treats too ;-)Biasalahkan bila dah lama tak berjumpa, borak sakan lah, tu yang masak awal2 so bolehlah berborak2 without having to sibuk2 in the kitchen. I like it when my guests really enjoy the food that I've prepared for them and eat it with gusto. Rasa seronok sgt bila penat lelah kita masak di habiskan, hehehe...

Saturday, 15 March 2008

I know it's going to be a loonnnnggg wknd with the kids sbb they started driving us both nuts from the moment they woke up. I think this will be on of those weekend when we are so glad that we stopped at two! Awal2 pagi lagi dah mula bergaduh so the other half put one in the bedroom and one in the playroom and told them they weren't allowed to talk to each other for 30 mins. Peace and calm for 30 minutes before the arguing started again.

Little miss 4 1/2 drove us up the walls with her continuous "why not?" and constant "mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy". My deep breathing technique and counting to 10 didn't really work today! The big sister was better behaved after a stern talking to and went out of her way to not cross our paths, hehehe...

But I still had some patience left to do some baking with them. I let them make grissini / breadsticks and sausage buns for lunch and biscuits during the day and the other half took them to the playground in the afternoon (so I could have some breathing space).

Tonite's dinner was just a simple seafood mee goreng using instant noodles. I was too busy cleaning the house today because we are having guests tomorrow for lunch hence the laziness (I know excuses, excuses). But I did bake the bread, biscuits, a chocolate cake and made some curry pastes for tomorrow's lunch so I guess I wasn't that lazy eh :-) .

Friday, 14 March 2008

Post hari ni taknak cerita pasal dinner, kita tukar angin sikit. hari ni kita cerita pasal my backyard garden. The house we are presently staying at is a rental property so tak bolehlah nak tanam apa2 on the ground unless we dont want to take the plants away with us when we move out. So, segala tanaman yg we all tanam, we planted them in pots, ranging from small ones to a really big one for the pokok limau purut. Ada yg tanam from the first summer we moved into this house and ada yg baru aje tanam about a month ago.

Next to daun kesum tu is the feijoa tree. Buah feijoa ni is also known as pineapple guava or guavasteen. It came originally from South America but I think a lot of New Zealanders have embraced this tree as their own. That's why we have to grow this tree sbb it reminds the other half of his birthplace, hehe..

The climbing plants are sugar snap peas (tak ingatlah nama dia in BM) and snake beans/kacang panjang/yard beans. Tak taulah bila nak boleh di semai tu, hehehe. Next to it in the hanging pot are the cherry tomatoes. Behind the trellis is the rosemary shrub, we didn't plant this, it was already there when we moved in here. Rosemary goes really well with roast meat. And next to the rosemary shrub is the lemon tree. Ada banyak gak buah but none are yellow yet.

The last 2 photos are just of the silverbeets, ginger and turmeric plants.